Details - Release of 16 Jerusalemite prisoners in the seventh batch of the exchange deal
On the 39th day of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the seventh batch of the exchange deal between Israel and Hamas was implemented in its first phase, where 16 Jerusalemite prisoners with life sentences and high sentences were released. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem said that the occupation authorities released the following prisoners:
1. Hamza Kaloti - sentenced to 6 life sentences and arrested in 2001.
2. Ahed Natsheh - sentenced to 25 years and arrested in 2001.
3. Khaled Halabi - sentenced to 28 years and arrested in 2001.
4. Majdi Za’tari - sentenced to 23 life sentences and 50 years and arrested in 2003.
5. Iyad Mhalwes - sentenced to 120 years and arrested in 2003.
6. Mohammad Abbad - sentenced to 25 years and arrested in 2002.
7. Ahmad Obeid - sentenced to 7 life sentences and 30 years and arrested in 2004.
8. Imad Sharif - sentenced to 27 years and arrested in 2004.
9. Mohammad Khalil Abu Sneineh - sentenced to two life sentences and 40 years and arrested in 2008.
10. Bilal Abu Ghanem - sentenced to three life sentences and 60 years and arrested in 2015.
11. Ahmad Nasla - sentenced to 27 years and arrested in 2022 (released in the Shalit deal).
12. Alaa al-Din Bazian – released from the Shalit deal and re-arrested in 2014.
13. Adnan Maragha – released from the Shalit deal and re-arrested in 2014.
14. Ismail Hijazi – released from the Shalit deal and re-arrested in 2014.
15. Jamal Abu Saleh – released from the Shalit deal and re-arrested in 2014.
16. Rajab Tahhan – released from the Shalit deal and re-arrested in 2014.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem explained that 11 of the released prisoners from Jerusalem were deported to Egypt.
These prisoners were among 602 Palestinian prisoners who were scheduled to be released last Saturday, 22/2/2025, but the Israeli Prime Minister announced the "suspension of the release of Palestinian prisoners", after hours of waiting for the prisoners and their families.
Raiding and besieging homes
On Wednesday afternoon, the occupation forces stormed the homes of the Jerusalemite prisoners scheduled to be released in the exchange deal, and who were not deported outside the Palestinian territories, and searched the houses and demanded that they not gather and that no one be in the house except for the residents only. The homes were also besieged for several continuous hours.
In the evening hours, the occupation intelligence summoned the families of 5 Jerusalemite prisoners: Hamza Kaloti, Ahmed Nasla, Khaled Halabi, Mohammad Abbad, and Ahed Natsheh to the police station, “Room 4”, in West Jerusalem.
After midnight, at 12:45, the occupation authorities began releasing the Jerusalemite prisoners, and took each prisoner with a member of his family to the door of his home, where they removed the prisoner’s handcuffs at the door of his home, amidst a large siege and the deployment of police around the homes.
Summoning the prisoners released in the exchange
The intelligence at the Al-Maskobyeh Center demanded that the 5 released prisoners come on Friday morning to the Al-Qishla Police Station in the Old City of Jerusalem, to hand them decisions to ban them from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for a period of 6 months.
Most of the Jerusalemite prisoners who were released in previous batches were banned from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The first phase of the exchange deal frees 76 Jerusalemite prisoners
By the end of the seventh batch of releases, 76 Jerusalemite prisoners holding the "blue ID" were released, including 27 prisoners who were deported outside the Palestinian territories, 2 to the Gaza Strip, 8 women, and 46 prisoners with life sentences and high sentences.
